Mayor Brandon Johnson has labeled “a done deal” his decision to cancel the ShotSpotter gunshot detection system contract after the historically violent summer months and the Democratic National Convention.
But it may not be done at all, if some members of the City Council have anything to say about it.
The Committee on Police and Fire will meet Monday to consider an ordinance sponsored by South Side Ald. David Moore (17th) that would, if passed, set the stage for local alderpersons to decide whether or not to continue ShotSpotter in their wards.
It’s a high-stakes version of another ordinance that allows individual wards to decide whether to allow booting on private property.
Moore accused Johnson of making a “unilateral decision” to get rid of ShotSpotter that runs contrary to the needs of his South Side ward, which includes parts of Englewood, Auburn Gresham, Marquette Park and Chicago Lawn.
“The mayor reports to the people, as I do. If we say government is for the people, by the people, then we have to listen to the people,” Moore said. “My community is saying it helps. My community is saying they want it. ... I think we’ve got 26 aldermen that believe the way I do.”
If a majority of alderpersons agree, that could amount to an unprecedented political rebuke of Johnson — and raise serious legal questions.
If local alderpersons opt to continue using the gunshot detection technology in their wards after Nov. 22, when the hastily negotiated $8.6 million extension expires, how exactly would ShotSpotter be paid? Would Johnson be forced to negotiate a new contract with ShotSpotter against his will?
“That’s a good question. We’ve never done anything like this before,” said Public Safety Committee Chair Brian Hopkins (2nd), who wants to keep ShotSpotter.
“Aldermen cannot bind the city to a procurement contract individually. We know that because we can’t even do that in our own wards. You have to have a master contract with the city that goes through the procurement system before you can bind the city of Chicago as a party to a contractual agreement,” he said. “So I don’t think Ald. Moore’s ordinance would allow us as individual aldermen to contract with ShotSpotter and have it in place in some wards, but not others.”
Moore acknowledged the mayor controls procurement, but said: “We could still extend, amend or do whatever is necessary to keep this contract in place in some form. ... Remember, the contract was expiring that Friday, and we got an extension, right? So anything can be done.”
The mayor’s office responded: “Public safety is a citywide issue within the responsibility of the police department, with oversight by the Office of the Mayor, and cannot be effectively managed on a ward-by-ward basis in a way that undercuts that authority.”
When Johnson decided to overrule Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling and cut ties with ShotSpotter, he delivered on a campaign promise to political activists who helped him rise from single-digit obscurity into the mayor’s office.
Those activists have argued the gunshot detection technology, embedded in Chicago’s crime-fighting strategy for more than a decade, is too costly, ineffective and contributes to overpolicing in Black and Brown communities where the majority of gun violence occurs. Getting rid of it, they claim, is an important step in rebuilding shattered trust between citizens and police.
Police and Fire Committee Chair Chris Taliaferro (29th), a former Chicago police sergeant, said he believes ShotSpotter should continue citywide after improved data collection.
“Just this week, I had a shooting in my ward. There were no calls to 911 ever made,” Taliaferro said. “Police arrived on the scene simply because ShotSpotter brought them there. Unfortunately, the person was deceased. But should that person have been alive or, perhaps clinging to life, that quick response by our police officers would have possibly given him a better chance of survival.”
Hopkins said he likes the idea of allowing individual Council members to “opt in and out” of technology systems like red-light or speed cameras.
“We’re a divided city, a divided Council. Some people like these things,” he said.
“I would put ShotSpotter devices in my ward if I had that kind of discretionary authority. I’m supportive of the concept. But in this instance, it doesn’t work. ShotSpotter is not the kind of system that you can divide up into 50 separate parts. It’s meant to be a seamless fabric, and it really wouldn’t lend itself to that kind of division,” he said.
At Monday’s police committee meeting, Taliaferro said he also plans to forge ahead with a vote on his own long-pending ordinance raising the mandatory retirement age for police officers from 63 to 65, but keeping it at 63 for firefighters.
The move is aimed at easing the severe shortage of officers that has left Chicago with nearly 2,000 fewer officers than it had four years ago, and relieving pressure on a police pension fund nearing insolvency.
The statistics, compiled by the Chicago Police Department, show response times over the last six years were more than two minutes quicker with a ShotSpotter alert than the gunshot detection alert accompanied by a 911 call.
Votes on $70 million to help migrants and the bond issue to fund housing and economic development now are set for Friday. The Council was, however, poised to approve a slew of other measures.
By Fran Spielman
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The Police and Fire Committee approved an order championed by South Side Ald. David Moore that would empower the local alderperson to decide whether to keep ShotSpotter in their ward and prohibit the mayor from eliminating the technology in a ward where the local alderperson supports it without a full Council vote.
By Fran Spielman
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
A City Council committee will consider an ordinance Monday that could let individual alderpersons decide whether to continue ShotSpotter gunshot detection technology in their wards.
By Fran Spielman
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
Former Inspector General Joseph Ferguson, now president of the Civic Federation, told the Sun-Times that details of the new deal indicate the City Council ‘probably should be vetting and approving this thing’ and not ‘just sort of play along with the mayor.’
Chicago police initially claimed officers were fired upon by a man, but the Civilian Office of Police Accountability released information Tuesday indicating the person involved was a child and did not shoot at police.
By Sophie Sherry
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Mayor Brandon’s Johnson’s administration negotiated an extension under less favorable terms than the original deal, which could violate city code, sources say. But the city’s Law Department says “a myriad of code provisions” permit the mayor’s extension.
Johnson announced last week that the city planned to shut down the gunshot detection system after the historically violent summer months and the Democratic National Convention, making good on a key campaign promise.
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office worked out a renewal to the nearly $49 million contract with ShotSpotter’s parent company, SoundThinking, through Sept. 22.
The current $49 million contract with ShotSpotter expires Friday, meaning the gunshot detection system that covers 12 of the city’s 22 police districts could be shut down as early as the end of the day.
ShotSpotter is bad enough to give it the ax now, yet good enough to keep around for another six months? Only in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s City Hall does this make sense.
If Johnson was so determined to honor his campaign promise to get rid of the controversial gunshot detection system, why did he wait until the last minute to timidly announce the decision?
After the Sun-Times first reported the decision, Johnson said the city will drop the gunshot detection system Sept. 22, meaning cops will have access to it throughout the summer and the Democratic National Convention.
Ralph Clark, CEO of ShotSpotter’s parent company, defended the controversial gunshot detection technology, saying the company guarantees at least 90% efficacy.
With Mayor Johnson on the clock to decide whether to renew the ShotSpotter deal, an internal document obtained by the Sun-Times underscores previous criticism that the technology is ineffective and too costly.
Studies show the gunshot detection technology has no crime reduction benefit, a University of Chicago professor writes.
By Robert Vargas
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A top mayoral aide said Johnson’s signature was unwittingly attached to a document authorizing the payment, which covered a contract extension approved by Lori Lightfoot.
The mayor will weigh all opinions on the controversial tech from a company whose contract ends next year, his adviser Jason Lee told the Sun-Times.
By Fran Spielman
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ShotSpotter has rebranded itself as SoundThinking, but it’s still a false solution to Chicago’s real problem with gun violence, activists write. Millions spent on the technology should go to violent prevention efforts.
By Sharah Hutson and
Alyx Goodwin
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The rebrand comes months after the city extended the company’s contract for a second time. Chicago Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson has vowed to end the deal.
By Tom Schuba
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A ShotSpotter spokeswoman said the multimillion-dollar deal was extended in October, the same month Mayor-elect Brandon Johnson declared his candidacy.
By Tom Schuba
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In high-crime communities, citizens stop calling 911 for every shooting. ShotSpotter lets officers respond quickly and possibly stop active shooters, help victims and apprehend suspects faster than if they had to wait for 911 calls.
By Letters to the Editor
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ShotSpotter — sold to police as an accurate and technologically-advanced law enforcement tool — has proven time and again to be less-than-advertised.
A report by a widely used gunshot detection firm says human employees are given broad discretion to decide whether a sound is a gunshot, thunder or nothing.
By Garance Burke | Associated Press and
Michael Tarm | Associated Press
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ShotSpotter came under increased scrutiny after a police officer fatally shot 13-year-old Adam Toledo. In August 2021, the city’s Office of the Inspector General found the technology can change the way officers interact with areas they patrol.
By Jon Seidel
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